Press

Champagne and the Tour de France - June 2019

In a recent piece by Canopy, an extension of the International Wine Challenge, Chris Boiling caught up with Pascal Prudhomme, managing director of Champagne Castelnau on how he is putting 'cycling and sustainability at the heart' of business.

Prudhomme told Boiling that supporting cycling and sustainable practices is "one way for us to approach millennials", and that attracting "the next generation of Champagne buyers" was part of the 2017 re-brand.

The piece also noted that:

'Champagne Castelnau’s major marketing tool is being an official partner of the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which organises the Tour de France. Castelnau has been ASO’s Champagne partner since 2012 and there are at least two more years to run on the deal. The Champagne house uses the tie-in to “promote the way of life coming from cycling,” according to cycling fan Pascal.'

Boiling focused on the limited edition Cuvée Siècle Jaune that has been created by Castelnau to mark the 100th anniversary of the yellow jersey. To further this connection with the race Prudhomme explained that: “We will taste the Champagne and spend time with our growers. There will also be a big dinner with the Tour de France organisers."

This brought the piece back round to the aims of Prudhomme and Champagne Castelnau, he was quoted as saying, "Step by step, year after year, we are thinking about the best way to express some topics such as respect for the environment and nature, the fact we are a team, and want to achieve goals, and this is a good way to communicate our values."

On the sub-topic of sustainability, it was highlighted that 'Castelnau wants all its vineyards to be certified by 2025 – well ahead of the Champagne Committee’s goal of 100% certification by 2030.'

Bike rides allow for the occasion for growers to share their thoughts:“It’s a good opportunity to share together some ideas because winegrowers are sometimes very far from our winery. So it’s a very interesting way to share that,” Prudhomme said.

Finally the piece looked to Castelnau's future plans and how they will be incorporating the "cycling way of life" into their refurbishment of Villa Tassigny into Villa Castelnau.